1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to snowplows. More particularly, though not exclusively, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for mounting a snowplow to a truck.
2. Problems in the Art
Typical prior art snowplows for use with pickup trucks attach to the front or rear of the pickup truck. A typical front mounted snow plow attaches to the front bumper of a pickup truck or to the front of the frame of the truck. With a front mounted snowplow, snow is pushed by driving into the snow with the blade of the snowplow lowered toward the ground.
A typical rear mounted plow or pull plow, is mounted to the receiving hitch or bumper of the pickup truck. A typical pickup truck will have a two inch receiver-type hitch positioned below the bumper of the pickup truck. A typical prior art pull plow can be secured to the receiver-type hitch by inserting an arm into the receiver hitch of the truck or by welding brackets to the hitch. The typical pull plow includes a flat box scraper which is movable up and down by the use of a hydraulic cylinder. One major disadvantage of a prior art pull plow is that the box scraper has a maximum clearance of only about twelve to eighteen inches. This prevents the pull plow from being used effectively on large snow drifts or for snow piled against a wall or garage.
Another disadvantage of a typical prior art pull plow is that because of the varying heights of pickup trucks or the use of lift kits with pickup trucks, the same pull plow will not work with every truck since the height of the receiver hitch will vary with the height of the truck. Another disadvantage with a prior art pull plow is that the plow can be damaged if the plow gets caught on a solid object such as a large rock, a tree stump, an extending piece of cement, etc.
Therefore, it can be seen that there is a need for an improved rear mounted snowplow that is simple, efficient, and works with a variety of trucks.